Michael Gough (above) was born 96 years ago today in Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia, and remarkably, he is still alive. An incredibly sly and versatile English character actor – equally at home reading the dialogue of Shakespeare, Chekhov, Pinter, Berthold Brecht, or Jimmy Sangster (the principal scribe of Hammer horror) – Mr. Gough has worked with ... read more »
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) – Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka gives Missi Pyle, James Fox, David Kelly, Freddie Highmore, et al. the guided tour. One man’s cliché is another man’s archetype. Tim Burton’s version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, like most of Burton’s work, is filled with clever ideas, but they are ... read more »
How can anyone not marvel that two of Gothic Cinema’s greatest performers, Christopher Lee and Vincent Price, were born on the same day? Christopher Lee was born on May 27, 1922. Price was born 11 years earlier on May 27, 1911. Today, Christopher Lee is 87. He has been an outstanding character lead since the ... read more »
2008, the year of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin, has also been the year of the comic actress in television and film. It’s not that comic actresses haven’t always been around, but I cannot think of another year in which so many comediennes were so prominently leading the comedy pack. Television has brought us Tina ... read more »
When I learned, via GreenCine Daily, that Johnny Depp might be playing the part of the Mad Hatter in a Tim Burton 3-D version of Alice in Wonderland (financed by the Disney Corp.) my first thought was – Why? Hadn’t Depp already played that part – or a visual simulacrum of it – in Burton’s ... read more »
Those of us who feared Johnny Depp might not be able to execute the vocal gymnastics required for Stephen Sondheim’s revenge-musical, Sweeney Todd, can breathe a sigh of relief. Depp sings just fine, not just the biting angry songs (“Epiphany”), but the sweet lyrical ones as well (“Pretty Women”). Depp’s intense committed performance along with ... read more »
Some still dispute whether Edward Gorey (1925-2000) was fundamentally an artist who wrote, or a writer who drew. Gorey was, in fact, both an accomplished writer and an accomplished artist who – like many of the greatest filmmakers – combined word and image to create a recognizable world of his own. Gorey’s influence on the ... read more »
